When I had to stop cycling after a car accident last year, I told people it affected my mental health.

Now I find out that my flip remark has some basis in research.

Two British professors published a study recently that indicated cycling benefits mental health. They also turned me onto a new word, Mamils, which stands for “Middle-Aged Men in Lycra.”

“Our new research has found that Mamils aren’t cycling primarily to relive their youth or prove they can still compete against other men. Instead, their motivations are much more complex, tied to the desire for good mental as well as physical health and fuelled by technology,” the professors, James Beale and Oliver Glackin of the University of East London wrote on theconversation.com.

The research involved in-depth interviews with 11 men, who ranged in age from 34 to 52. (I’m worried that if that is middle age, what does that make me at age 59!”)

One criterion the men shared was they rode in the countryside at least one hour a week, something the researchers call “green cycling.” Any cyclist will tell you riding on the back roads away from traffic is better for your mental — and probably physical — health than busy city roads.

The researchers divide the benefits the men felt into three buckets. One is “mastery and uncomplicated joys,” which basically means we enjoy the challenges — riding farther, climbing a steep hill like Sugarloaf Mountain in Lake County, or simply feeling the wind in our face as we speed along. Remember, as the study’s title says, the world is best experienced at 18 mph.

The second benefit is that cycling becomes “my place to escape and rejuvenate,” according to the authors.

“Green-cycling represented an opportunity to get away from the concerns and worries of their lives back at home,” they write.

And, finally, cycling allows us to be “alone but connected.” This can happen when you cycle in a group, where they might be no talking except calling out “car back!” but you feel connected all the same. Or it can happen after you ride alone but compare statistics on Strava or share stories on Facebook.

“Our findings contradict the popular view of a Mamil as someone going through a mid-life crisis, with riding substituting the roar of a sports car or other interests associated with men of a certain age feeling life is passing them by.” Beale and Glackin write. “The research also contrasts with the idea that cycling is a way for men to compete in a new activity that the ageing process will not take away so quickly as the sports they grew up playing.”

As the authors note in their paper, many studies indicate the benefits of exercise to a feeling of well being and reports of better mental health. Their interest was to look at “Green Exercise” and cyclists.

And, yes, no one thinks that a study of 11 men means we all ride to feel God’s Glory and not to chase our youth — or, as this cartoon shows, run away from middle age. The authors don’t claim that.

But personally, my time off the bike lately made me feel a little adrift and disconnected from my Mamil tribe. Ask anyone who rides if they think it helps them feel healthier physically and mentally, and I suspect all will say yes.